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| Written by David A. Adler Illustrated by Robert Casilla 1989 |
A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. is just that. The book begins with the birth of young Martin and ends with his eventual assassination in 1968. On the last page of the book, a timeline is provided that includes each major date in his precious life. The story of Martin Luther King, Jr. is undeniably one of the most important tales in American history. David Adler provides interested readers with a "bare-bones" account of his life. Beginning at birth, Martin grew in the church. During childhood, he was denied the right to play football with his friends based on the color of his skin. This saddened Martin, and he cried into his mother's arms. Atlanta was consumed by racial discrimination as Martin was finishing his degree in divinity from Morehouse College in Atlanta. After he was wed, Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in the "White Only" section of the bus. Next, King led a march in protest. After his house was bombed, King advocated for non-violence as he called down his supporters who were ready to fight for his safety. King's 1963 speech is one of the most important recordings in history, and he earned the Nobel Prize in 1964. The last page describes King's assassination.
Unfortunately, I feel that this non-fiction picture book may be attributed to the cannon of children's literature that is dated and inauthentic. Writing a picture book about a world figure would be quite a difficult task, yet this author has chosen to depict King's story like the entry from an Enclyclopedia. The poorly rendered watercolor paintings that fill the pages of this text resemble the book series titles that are mass produced for student consumption for emerging literacy. There are virtually no redeemable qualities about this picture book, other than the beautiful story that the text completely mangles. Void of any emotional connection, the reader is strung along a brief history of Martin Luther King, Jr. just as a teacher would introduce the topic before reading a successful picture book. With perhaps the most sensitive subject matter, Adler fails to activate any emotional response from the reader. If the writing was to be edited to meet this emotional connection, the story may be better expressed. Instead, very little colorful language is used in the book. Most lines read like scientific journals: "Dr. King told his followers to protest peacefully. But there were some riots and some violence." If for some reason the author was intended to shield this emotional bombardment from students, why did he opt for a chilling image of Dr. King right after he was murdered? With a massive collection of children's literature that is successful at bringing this story to students, this text is the one to place back on the book shelf.
I am disappointed by the review for this children's picture book. The VA SOL's call for the great accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. to be learned by children at the primary level. Therefore it is essential there is a solid picture book out there to depict his life and great works as interesting and captivating for primary readers. Apparently the author missed the mark with this one and should have written more of a formal biographical account for much older readers instead.
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